. good morning, you're looking at live pictures in the vatican where the pope is saying his final words. the manhunt for christopher

dorner comes to a head. president obama pushes for gun control and immigration reform. but will any of it pass? plus, mardi gras ends as lent begins. senator mark yes rubio's water shed moment lights up the twittersphere and this year us atop dog. we've got two major stories this morning. president obama is telling supporters he needs their help to make the changes he proposed in his state of the union address. first, the latest from california on what may be the fiery end to the huge manhunt for accused cop killer christopher dorner. nbc's tony shin is in san bernardino with the latest. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. first of all, i want to show you something. take a look behind me. this is highway 38. there are chp officers blocking this road. they've been blocking this road for hours.

we are about six miles away from that cabin where investigators found those human remains. this is where investigators say christopher dorner put up his last stand. cornered, desperate and out of options. a law enforcement source says they herd a single gunshot before the cabin went up in flames. dorner, a 33-year-old ex-lapd officer had been on the run since super bowl sunday when police connected him to the murders of two people in irvine, california. investigators say dorner 11,000 word manifesto on his facebook page threatening to kill anyone that had something to do with his unjust firing from lapd. he killed laver ks side police officer and wounded two others before disappearing at big bear mountain. four days later, around noon on tuesday, an alert went out to law enforcement officers to watch out for a stolen vehicle.

a fish and wildlivwarden on patrol spotted dorner in that vehicle. >> they were so close that he recognized his face. >> reporter: san bernardino sheriff's authorities caught up with dorner driving a white pickup truck at the cabin. >> there's obviously a tactical situation right here. >> reporter: according to sources, they shot tear gas into the home, possibly leading to the fire and ending one of the region's most extensive and deadly man hunts. right now investigators are still in the process of trying to positively identify those human remains. meantime, that river side police officer who was killed last week will be laid to rest later today. back to you. >> all right, tony shin, thank you so much for that update. reaction is rolling into president obama's state of union, democrats called it a lecture while some republicans

complained about a lack of concrete details to fix the economy. tracie potts has the details from washington. >> reporter: creating new jobs for the middle class, that's the president's focus today in north carolina after telling congress the wealthy still need to pay more. >> we can't have senior citizens and working families to shoulder the entire burden of deficit reduction while asking nothing more from the wealthiest and the most powerful. >> reporter: he is pushing for a permanent budget. >> the gratest nation on earth can not keep conducting its business by drifting from one manufactured crisis to the next. we can't do it. >> reporter: allowing homeowners to refinance. >> democrats and republicans have supported it before. so what are we waiting for? >> reporter: immigration reform. >> now is the time to get it done. >> reporter: and a vote on gun control with victims families in the audience. >> more than two dozen americans whose lives have been torn apart by gun violence. they deserve a vote.

>> reporter: but a vote on what? >> magazines, background checks, gun trafficking. >> go after the bad guys. go after the nut cases that proclaim craziness. >> reporter: republicans say the speech was short on specifics. >> how are we going to cut spending, mr. president? how are you going to address the national debt? >> reducing spending and taking down the deficit, i don't buy it. >> reporter: the president pished new initiatives to create jobs, pay for energy research, improve education and expand trade. >> more government isn't going to help you get ahead. it's going to hold you back. >> the republican response as the president hits the road with an agenda sure to have an uphill battle. for better or worse, one moment in particular is getting a lot of attention. rubio reached off camera for a small bottle of water and that impromptu and awkward water break drew thousands of

reactions on twitter. pope benedict is presiding over what is believed to be his final mass on this ash wednesday. nbc's chris jansing is live on phone now inside the vatican where the general audience is listening to pope benedict. good morning. >> good morning. i just seconds stepped out from that audience. i can tell you when the pope made his appearance, the reaction was absolutely ecstatic. he walked without help to the chair and now for several minutes has been reading a statement which is traditional at these audiences saying that he decided to step down for the good of the church and thanking people for their prayers. this is the first of two appearances later today will be the mass which will be held at st. peter's. typically it is held at a much smaller church in rome. this is the really last important day in the church calendar where he'll preside as pope before stepping down on february 28th. the timing, we are told, part of

his own plan is that he would like to have a new pope in place in time for easter. but the pope making his final appearance as you're able to see from rome. i can tell you from sitting inside there, there are a lot of people around me very emotional and crying. >> chris jansing, thanks so much. and now here's your first look at this morning's dish of scrambled politics. first lady michelle obama went with a familiar choice for her state of the union address last night for her husband's state of the union. she chose a black and dark red sleeveless dress made by jason wu. vice president joe bide ep was wearing glasses during part of the speech because biden scratched his eye with a contact lens. the state of the union speech was a big topic on twitter with 1,360,000 tweets sent. that is double the number of tweets sent during the 2012 state of the union address.

one user created a twitter page for marco rubio's water bottle. i go with him to all of the big spichs to take care of his bouts of killer cotton mouth. one shot after each time obama says something socialist f you're confused, that's at the end of every sentence. at the state of the union tonight when the president walked into the chamber, instead of hail to the chief, they played hey big spender. rocker and nra member ted nugent was interviewed. he got the negativity reaction to jim lagavin who said it was an odd choice for a member of congress to invite someone who threatened the life of the president. >> i mean because he lied claiming that somehow i didn't feel sorry for the victims of violent crime. >> is that an appropriate thing to say? >> that would take general fecal material instead of brain matter to actually continue such a

vicious, hateful lie. >> tell us what you really think. and that's your morning dish of scrambled politics. and now we're joined by bill karins. good morning. >> good morning. we don't have any big storms coming, that's good. a little snow for some areas the next 24 hours. that's really the only weather story out there. and we had some interesting scenes yesterday in oklahoma city and amarillo who got hit by -- anywhere between two and four inches of snow. snowed a little bit in northern arkansas and southern missouri. that's about it. this is the little storm that's going to track into d.c. with rain and tail end of a little bit of snow. a period of snow for philadelphia to new york city. about 24 hours from now. so let me show you a closer view here. the rainy weather exiting the southeast coastline. the storm itself, again, it's a very weak storm. now located near memphis and headed for nashville. cold rain on the north side of it. maybe just cold in areas like louisville today to get a sloshy inch, maybe on the grassy

surfaces. you have to get a rain and snow mix. the computers are not impressed with the storm. the northern edge of it late tonight from midnight to 2:00 or 3:00 a.m. will get a little coating here, an inch to three inches from philadelphia to new york city and long island and coastal areas of rhode island and on cape cod. otherwise today, i don't think the airports will be too bad this morning. this afternoon we'll see some of the rain moving into d.c. and then late today into new york city. tomorrow, minor travel impact. again, i think tomorrow morning, new york city to philadelphia, there will be slippery roads. >> all right. thanks so much, bill. straight ahead, no power and a handful of working toilets equals misery for 4,000 carnival cruise passengers. plus, a freshman senator gets slapped down by veteran colleagues. first look is back in three minutes. my bad.

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welcome back. chuck hagel is one step closer to becoming secretary of defense much the senate arms services committee approved his

nomination among party lines. hearings became heated after texas senator ted cruz suggested he received money from extreme and radical groups. >> this senator feels like that senator cruz has gone over the line. he basically has impugned the patriotism of the nominee. >> senator hagel is an honorable man. he served his country. and no one on this committee at any time should impugn his character or his integrity. >> meanwhile, treasury secretary nominee jack lu heads to capitol hill today for his confirmation hearings. he would replace timothy geithner. conditions are going from bad to worse aboard that stranded cruise ship in the gulf of mexico. those onboard describe the boat as filled with sick passengers, scarce food and a handful of

working toilets for thousands of passengers. and a tiny dog won the prestigious best in show at the westminster kennel club. banana joe or just joe as he's known to his trainers became the first of his breed to be named top dog. congratulations to him. moving on to business, today we'll see if the little m & a action gives markets a boost. keep an eye on ge and comcast. both companies rose in after hours trading on comcast's much earlier than expected acquisition of ge's remaining 49 stake in nbc vuniversal. that will end 27 years of either full or partial ge ownership of nbc. comcast will also purchase our iconic propertieses here at 30 rockefeller center. investors will also be watching cisco today. they deliver fourth quarter earnings after the bell. apple's ceo tim cook fires

back at criticism about his company's $137 billion stockpile of cash. he called a recent lawsuit over the issue a silly side show. but he did say a proposal to return funds to shareholders would be thoroughly considered. meanwhile, intel, the world's top chipmaker is confirmed plans to launch an on line streaming tv service this year. on the fiscal front, the u.s. treasury reported a rare surplus in january of $2.9 billion. that's thanks to that social security tax cut that expired last month. trans union says the national rate of late payments on home loans has fallen to the lowest level in four years. according to a recent survey, a happy valentine's day is not that complicated. a romantic dinner and a movie is their preferred val envines night date. a little treat to help your lady celebrate, edible shoe designs go for 50 to $100 a

pair. meet the world's fastest basketball free throw shooter and see him in action next. plus, what sparked this courtroom brawl and how did it get so out of control? you're watching "first look" on msnbc. but once a week i let her play sheriff so i can wash it. i use tide to get out those week old stains and downy to get it fresh and soft. you are free to go. [ dad ] tide and downy together. you know it can be hard to lbreathe, and how that feels.e, you are free to go. copd includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. spiriva helps control my copd symptoms by keeping my airways open for 24 hours. plus, it reduces copd flare-ups. spiriva is the only once-daily inhaled copd maintenance treatment that does both. spiriva handihaler tiotropium bromide inhalation powder does not replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms. tell your doctor if you have kidney problems, glaucoma, trouble urinating, or an enlarged prostate.

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and mb might snbc contributor. people were looking for specifics on how to get the economy back on track. did he deliver on that? >> you heard a few ideas. you heard him talk about raising the minimum wage to $9 an hour. he talked about creating manufacturing hubs that will create jobs in that industry. he talked about hiring workers to rebuild roads and rebuild bridges. those are the ideas that would help the economy. he talked about a lot. none of those three i think will be supported by many republicans in congress. but the different question, he laid out a lot of ideas. >> the most emotional night came when the president called for gun control reform. do you think that public appeal will move the needle with congress? >> i don't know if it will move the needle only because i mean if the shooting in newtown did not change members of congress' views, i'm not sure what will. i mean we have gabrielle

giffords, we had the newtown shooting. i have to think those incidents matter more than the president's words. what i watched last night is the president is very emphatic about the issues and not something he's going to lay aside, something he's going to keep pressing for. i think he said seize this moment. not only his words but the fact that the family was sitting beside michelle obama during the speech as well. >> did you see any surprises last night, anything that caught you off guard? >> a couple things. the minimum wage idea was new. also this idea of universal pre-k education is something the white house didn't talk about before and is a pretty big bold idea. >> thank you for your perspective. >> now here's your first look at other news going on around america. drama in a nebraska courtroom. two families attending a sentencing hearing broke into an all out brawl. police had to use pepper spray and pin down some of the fighters just to regain control

of that situation. one person was sent to the hospital and two others were arrested. in boston, all that snow has to go somewhere. so city crews have enlisted a snow melting machine that converts hot water into hotter air to melt all that white stuff. so far they managed to clear 800 miles of roadway following the blizzard. and to a swearing in in chicago. 62 children from 23 countries took their oath and were sworn in as u.s. citizens. mayor rahm emanuel was the key. ♪ speaker over the first ceremony dedicated solely to kids. moving to sports now, an in state upset. michigan state versus michigan. the number eight ranked spartans hosted number four michigan and it quickly turned into a route with michigan state up by more than 20 points. it's the first time in history that both teams were in the top ten as they face each other and the spartans demolished the wolverines 75-52. in gainesville, number seven florida state undefeated at home

and cruised to an easy win over kentucky. 69-52. and florida also takes over first place in the southeast conference. in baseball, seattle's felix hernandez signs a seven-year, $175 million deal. that makes him the highest paid pitcher in baseball. and on "the tonight show," jay leno welcomed rob fisher who set 14 guinness world records for free throws in just over two years. fisher is a former high school basketball coach from kansas who has perfected his free throw form, clearly. he is the world's fastest free throw shooter. in 30 seconds last night, he made 27 free throws, that is five less than the current world record of 33. that's pretty impressive. >> yeah. >> and now for another look at the weather, here's bill karins. >> a little snow coming for areas around new york city. this will be a minor impact. hopefully happen early enough in the morning by this time tomorrow the road crews get the salt out there and it won't be an issue. we start off with clear skies through much of the region. it's cold and chilly. notice the clouds down to the

south. the first areas that get some of that rain later today, say afternoon will be around washington, d.c. carry the umbrella with you. you need it later on coming home from work. then 5:00 p.m., philadelphia to new york will get some rain possibly mixed with a little bit of snow. the accumulating snows, especially areas outside of philly and new york will be during the overnight hours. some time around 10:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. then overwith by 2:00 a.m. as i mention, hopefully the road crews get it going and visit finished by the morning. that big weekend storm i was talking about the last couple days, still looks like an ocean storm. it doesn't look like any more snowstorms are on the way for the east coast. >> that's a little bit of good news. thanks so much, bill. still ahead, steefrn spielberg is sending school kids everywhere a round of lincoln. [ male announcer ] if you can clear a crowd but not your nasal congestion,

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students across the country will get a healthy dose of abraham lincoln. he is sending three copies of lincoln to every middle school and high school in america as part of an educational outreach program. he wants to urge children to follow the 16th president's example. on tuesday, a whole lot of celebrities announced they're pregnant. alec baldwin ended months of speculation by confirming that their baby is due this summer. >> you and i did not know that. >> absolutely not. >> and then from the sopranos, she announced she is having a baby with her brand new fiance. >> speaking of babies, nbc is working to confirm the daily mail's report that steve martin and his wife had a baby back in december. martin who is 67ea